2 Chronicles 32:1 After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sen-na-che-rib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.

King Manasseh and the people of Judah were fortunate that the very Creator of the universe desired to communicate with them.

How tragic that they refused to listen. The Lord then had no choice but to get their attention by allowing them to fall to the king of Assyria.

King Manasseh found himself being led around by the enemy with a hook in his nose like an animal. Only then did he understand God’s important message.

God loves His people and wants to provide them with guidance, strength, and wisdom. He speaks today through His Word, His teachers and preachers, his prophets, his pastors and evangelists and His Holy Spirit during prayer and at other times.

Are you interested in what He wants to say to you? Are you listening or will you wait until God does something drastic to get your attention?

Our Prayer focus for today: Speak to me, Lord. I’m listening.

2 Chronicles 30:1  1 Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel.

Why does a holy God sometimes set aside the strict “letter of the law” and grant mercy to faulty people?

After Hezekiah’s great revival, he desired to honor God by reinstating the observance of the Passover. Unfortunately, the proper date for the feast had already passed for that year.

Hezekiah reasoned that it would be better to obey the Lord late than not at all. A great crowd arrived in Jerusalem for the occasion.

Some of the people had not purified themselves, perhaps because they were ignorant of the Law. Hezekiah reasoned that it would be better for these to take part in the Passover than not.

However, the unpurified ones would technically be disobeying the Law by partaking. Hezekiah prayed and asked God to pardon them for their imperfect but sincere attempts to keep His Word and great thing is, God heard and forgave.

God understands that we are frail and faulty. Although He cannot tolerate sin, He is merciful through the blood of Jesus, so He can forgive us of our failures if our hearts are set on following Him. Mercy is not available for the proud who will not repent. But praise God, your sins are covered if you seek His forgiveness and sincerely do your best to obey Him.

Prayer for Today: God, have mercy on me as I have mercy on others.